---o---
Seeing Caelus down the entire bucket of milk in just a few gulps, March 7th couldn't help but shift her position and inch closer. She reached out and poked his stomach. It hadn't gotten particularly big or anything. How could he fit so much in there?
Caelus felt the touch on his stomach, looked down, and then shot a glance at March 7th.
"What? Want to feel my abs and take advantage of me? Should I feel yours too?"
Caelus made a move to reach out, startling March 7th into shrinking back. She blushed and huffed.
"I was just curious how your stomach didn't get bloated after drinking so much milk."
Caelus rolled his eyes. This was nothing. If he wanted to, he could eat indefinitely. The entire food supply of Belobog wouldn't be enough to fill him.
"You finish your drink. I'm going to ask the clerk about something."
Caelus stood up and walked to the counter, tapping it lightly to get the attention of the clerk who was busy making drinks.
Seeing that it was his big-spending patron calling, the clerk immediately came over, a smile on his face.
"Sir, is there anything else you need?"
Caelus placed another gold nugget on the counter. "I'd like to ask, is there anywhere in Belobog that raises cattle?"
If he was going to prepare for the upcoming battle, simply buying milk from shops like this was not a cost-effective solution. The easiest way would be to find a cow himself, which would allow him to get an unlimited supply of milk with his iron buckets.
---o---
Seeing how generous Caelus was, the clerk was naturally more than willing to share everything he knew. He immediately raised a hand and pointed in a certain direction for Caelus.
"Follow this street for about four hundred meters, then take a right, and you'll see a livestock farm. But sir, I must remind you, you know what the situation is like outside Belobog right now. Milk is an extremely precious commodity, and that farm is owned by a noble. The price might be very high. If our little shop wasn't also part of that noble's property, we wouldn't be able to afford to sell fresh milk at all."
"Right, I understand."
Having gotten the location of the farm, Caelus returned to March 7th. She saw him coming back, quickly slurped down the last few mouthfuls of her milk tea, and stood up.
"Where are we off to next?"
"To the farm, to find a cow."
"A farm?"
March 7th was a little confused as to why Caelus suddenly wanted to go to a farm, but she didn't press the issue. She figured she'd find out what he was up to when they got there.
Not long after the two had left, Bronya, now in civilian clothes with her long hair tied back, arrived at the counter with two similarly dressed Silvermane Guards. Bronya had the two guards keep an eye on the direction Caelus and March had gone, then she gently tapped the counter.
The clerk walked over, puzzled. He felt that the person before him looked somewhat familiar. After a moment of careful observation, he finally recognized her.
"Lady Bronya? What brings you here?"
Bronya raised a finger to her lips, signaling for him to keep his voice down, then asked, "Those two customers from just now, what did they ask you?"
"Oh, you mean the gentleman who was paying so generously? He just asked me where in Belobog he could find cattle, so I pointed him in the right direction."
After relaying what had happened, the clerk asked worriedly, "Lady Bronya, I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
He was genuinely concerned he might have unintentionally made a mistake. After all, anything that required Lady Bronya's personal attention had to be important.
Bronya smiled and shook her head, signaling for the clerk not to worry.
"It's fine. It was just a routine inquiry. Don't worry about it."
"That's a relief." The clerk let out a long sigh.
Afterward, Bronya instructed the clerk not to mention her visit to anyone, then took her Silvermane Guards and discreetly followed Caelus and March toward the farm.
---o---
"So this is the farm?"
Caelus and March 7th stood outside the main gate of the livestock farm. They found that the so-called farm wasn't particularly large. Caelus glanced at his minimap and saw that there were only two or three hundred cattle and sheep in total.
Compared to the massive livestock ranches of the outside world, this was practically nothing.
Caelus looked at the gate, found the doorbell, and pressed it.
A moment later, the sound of footsteps came from behind the closed gate. A worker opened it and looked quizzically at the two people standing outside. The pair was dressed very neatly, and the fabric of their clothes looked quite expensive, which made the worker think they might be the young master and lady of some noble house.
A hint of respect appeared on the worker's face as he asked cautiously, "Sir, Ma'am, may I help you?"
Caelus stated his purpose directly. "I'd like to rent a cow from your farm. Can we discuss it?"
The worker couldn't make such a decision, nor did he dare refuse. He simply stepped aside and let the two of them in.
"Please, come in. You'll have to discuss this with our master."
"Alright."
The worker led the pair through the estate for a while until they arrived at a door. The worker raised a hand and knocked. A man's voice quickly answered from inside.
"Come in."
The worker pushed the door open and led them inside. In the room, a middle-aged man with a long beard put down his coffee and looked at the two of them with a hint of curiosity.
"Who are these two?"
The worker quickly explained, "Master, these two say they wish to rent our dairy cows."
---o---
"Rent?"
The middle-aged man frowned. He was about to refuse them outright, but seeing that Caelus and March 7th's clothes and appearance were not that of commoners, he decided to use a different excuse.
"My apologies, but as a matter of principle, our dairy cows are not for loan. After all, you both understand the world we live in now. Animals like dairy cows are a scarce resource."
Caelus didn't say a word. He walked directly to the opposite side of the man's desk and sat down. March 7th immediately followed suit, sitting beside Caelus and silently straightening her back.
Caelus pulled a gold ingot from his pocket and slammed it onto the wooden table. The solid wood table immediately cracked.
The man's expression shifted slightly. He was about to speak when Caelus suddenly slammed another gold ingot down, smiling as he said, "My apologies, I can be a bit heavy-handed."
The middle-aged man closed his mouth, silently eyeing his solid wood table. To be able to crack a solid wood table just by slamming something down, the weight of those two gold ingots must be considerable! Either that, or this young man possessed divine strength.
But from the looks of him, he seemed more like a pampered young master.
"Sir, this is not a matter of money... It's a matter of principle..."
Thud!
Caelus produced two more gold ingots. The solid wood table couldn't take it anymore and collapsed.
"Can four gold ingots buy your principles and rent two of your cows for half an hour?"
Half an hour? You should have said so earlier! Look at this mess, you even cost me a table!
The middle-aged man's expression shifted, and he immediately put on a brilliant smile.
"Sir, principles have always been meant to be abandoned."